


Something I Don't Already Know

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Festivals, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Pining, Road Trips, Sterek Bingo 2017, carnivals, sterekbingo2017, stiles is something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-27 20:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10816464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Stiles has found his place with Derek, he thinks, he just wishes that place was as something more than a freind





	Something I Don't Already Know

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out, I was going to make it alot longer initially- well... a little longer, maybe not alot- but I'm glad I ended it where I did instead
> 
> (I can't help the Gaga references, I got the idea listening to "Ayo")

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, you need to wake up,"

Stiles groaned quietly, rubbing his eyes a little and slowly looking up towards Derek's face

"I found our next case, we need to get going if we're going to get there before dark,"

Stiles yawned loudly, giving a stiff nod as he pushed himself off of the creaky motel bed and swung his legs over the side

"Did you arleady-"

"Yes, bags are in the car," Derek replied swiftly

Stiles just gave a quiet grunt, making his way towards the bathroom and stretching as he walked

"I'm going to get breakfast, I'll be back in ten minutes, fifteen if they're busy,"

"I'll be done by then," Stiles promised with a groan, stretching in a way that his body apparently didn't like- if the terrible popping and cracking of his bones had anything to say about it

Derek gave a silent nod of approval, stepping out of the motel room

Stiles, in the mean time, shed his clothes and stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door and starting the shower

Usually their accommodations were a little nicer than this but this had been the only motel for miles so they had made due the night before

It was kind of weird to think about, that they had _usual accommodations_

But they had been doing this for almost a year now so it shouldn't be such a shock anymore....

After the incident with the Wild Hunt, Derek had come back to Beacon Hills

Stiles tried to (half-heartedly) talk him out of staying but Derek had been insistent, after seeing what had happened with the Hunt, he had decided that he needed to be there, no matter how difficult it might be at times

Stiles had also found out that Derek had not, in fact, been relaxing on a beach somewhere like he had once hoped, but had actually been out helping Braeden on and off tracking down threats, from hunters to rogue wolves to people like the Desert Wolf

Apparently that wasn't something that was going to change either, Derek had taken on that job permanently, and after a few months, Stiles had decided to take it on right alongside him

It hadn't been an easy decision to come to, ofcourse, and it hadn't really been intentional either, for what it was worth

Stiles was a raven

He had found that out when he was with the hunt, but hadn't said anything about it to anyone after getting back

He finally broke down and told Derek- he told him everything, about the Hunt, about the magic, about Donnovan, hell even about being bisexual

Derek had taken it all... the way everyone always imagines an ideal person taking it

Calmly, normally, like Stiles was just telling him about the latest movie he had seen instead of dropping an atomic bomb in his lap

Hell the next day he had even gotten Stiles a "Congrats" cupcake in the bi flag colors

(Stiles still wasn't done being surprised by that one but it had made a little more sense when Derek owned up to the fact that Laura had once done it for him- though that had been more of a joke and this one had been more sincere)

After that they just naturally started spending more time together, and after about a month Stiles even offered to go on one of Derek's trips with him

That had been just under a year ago, they hadn't stopped since

Stiles had decided that he was better off like this, doing better by devoting his life to the supernatural

It was a good way to channel his magic, a good use of his skills in a way that human law enforcement wouldn't utilize

And besides, he knew over a year ago that human law enforcement just wasn't for him, he had had an inkling about it back when the benefactor was running loose and his suspicions were confirmed after Donnovan

There were too many rules, too many things he couldn't abide by, too many things that would wreck him, break his heart, turn him into a mad man...

It was better this way

It felt more like he was helping people, less like he was punishing people or... worse, killing them....

He told Scott and the others after a few months to surprisingly good results, and now here he was

Showering in a motel room, waiting on Derek to bring him breakfast to enjoy on the road wile they went after yet another rogue Omega- the sixth one in this stretch of area

It seemed like there was a rogue Alpha going around biting haphazardly wich... was getting a little close to home but not detouring them

He turned the water off after a quick rinse, slicking his fingers back through his hair before stepping out and wrapping himself in a towel

He couldn't WAIT to get back to a decent-sized town where they'd have fluffy towels....

(He couldn't wait to get HOME either, it had been a few weeks now, and Stiles was starting to get anxious to see his dad...)

The sound of the door opening caught his attention and Stiles cracked the bathroom door, relaxing at the familiar scent of doughnuts wafting into the room

"Today's your lucky day, they had chocolate frosted," Derek noted casually as he placed two cups of coffee on the nightstand and flipped the pink doughnut box open

"Thank GOD! I was starting to think those were going out of style!"

"Please don't make any puns about that," Derek sighed as the younger man crossed the room and plucked a doughnut out of the box, a towel wrapped securely around Stiles' waist as he leaned back and started to munch

"I won't I won't, but you were right, today IS my lucky day, today I pick the music and I am in a Gaga mood,"

Derek rolled his eyes, shaking his head as Stiles made his way back into the bathroom to get dressed

"I still can't believe you have Lady Gaga music,"

"I still can't believe you have CDs from The Eagles,"

"Really? You, The Dean Winchester Fanclub incarnate, can't believe I like classic rock?"

"Oh no no I can believe THAT, I just can't believe you actually own any- and on CD,"

"Just put your pants on Stiles,"

 

~+~

 

"Ok ok.... never have I ever... held snow in my bare hands,"

"Have you ever even held snow at all?" Derek asked with raised eyebrows as he reluctantly lowered a finger against the steering weel

"Um, _yes_ , just because it RARELY snows here doesn't mean it _never_ snows here,"

"I know that, I just didn't know if you had ever touched it before,"

"Well now you know, and I know about you, so now it's your turn,"

Derek was quiet for a few moments, a slight smirk starting to cross his face

"Ok, never have I ever eaten all of my Halloween candy in one night,"

Stiles' eyes narrowed, nose wrinkling slightly

"Ok now you're just being cruel Hale," he huffed in frustration as he lowered a finger himself

Now they were both down to one

"I'm not cruel, I'm just smart enough to know not to eat all of my candy in one night," he replied with a slight shrug

To say that Stiles seemed displeased with that answer was putting it mildly

"You know... I'm having a hard time thinking of stuff I haven't done.... I don't know um... never have I worn lace panties,"

Derek's lips turned up in a slight smirk, leaning back in the seat and shrugging a bit

"Well, you win,"

Stiles blinked- once, twice, and then... his mouth dropped open

"No way... seriously!?"

"Something wrong with that?"

"N-No! No no no nothing wrong AT ALL,"

You know, besides the fact that Stiles was definitely going to be thinking about THAT every hour, on the hour, for the rest of his life...

That was the one downside to working this job with Derek

He and Derek were pretty much glued at the hip, they were together _all the time_ and although that would have been GREAT in any other circumstance...

Well, when Stiles was trying to hide his attraction to the werewolf, being with him constantly wasn't necessarily the BEST thing...

"New game?" Derek asked with a smirk

Stiles huffed, flushing and chewing on his lip

Derek may have been the one who was out first, but they both knew that Stiles was the one who had actually lost this game....

 

~+~

 

_"Off on me, my body's got you pleadin'  
Light me up and breathe in  
Mirror on the ceiling  
A-yo, a-yo-"_

The car's engine was abruptly turned off, causing Stiles to pout up at Derek with annoyance

"Excuse you,"

"We need to get gas, don't worry, we have atleast another four hours of driving left to do, you'll have plenty of time to get your Gaga back on,"

"Fair," Stiles muttered back, popping his seatbelt off and opening the car door

"I'm going inside to grab some snacks, you want anything?"

"Barbecue chips?" Derek suggested back, getting out of the car and taking a step towards the pump

"I can do that," Stiles agreed, giving a salute before jogging off towards the mini mart

He kind of loved shopping at gas stations, as weird as it sounded, it was one of the highlights of traveling this much

They had mostly junk food and what few other things they had were almost entirely sold in small, travel sized portions, wich was particularly great

He just loved the judgement free array of junk, some of wich were lifelong favorites that he couldn't typically find in grocery stores

It was weird, yes, but it was something that atleast made him mildly happy, wich he could certainly use on this kind of job

He made a b-line directly towards the turning display in the center of the store and picked off a few packs of cheap candy, the ones that made him feel nostalgic and didn't taste nearly as good as the memories felt

He headed over to the chips next, grabbing a few bags of Derek's favorites and a few of his before heading back to get some sodas

After years of shopping like a middle-aged health nut to keep his father's health up he was finally loose and running a bit wild with the freedom of getting access to junk all the time

It was on his way to get the aforementioned soda that he came to a bit of a halt, watching a young couple around the corner as they poured a Slush Puppy together- the guy pouring in blue and the girl pouring in red, and he didn't know why but... for some reason, that made him feel oddly...

 _Jealous_....

He couldn't help the bitter, aching, yearning in his chest to have that

To have that with someone very specific, as a matter of fact...

He and Derek had been spending so much time together over the past year, and the only downside to that was that he and Derek were just... spending so much _time_ together

So much that it became all too easy to want things he had once tried really hard not to want

Too easy to want things that he knew he wasn't allowed to have

Too easy to get sick with wanting...

He felt the familiar lump in his throat starting to form, a tight, squeezing, pinch in his chest starting to ache...

His eyes stung as he finished picking up things, maybe a few more things than necessary, though if that was out of a desire to keep himself away from Derek a little longer or a desire to gorge on junk food until he felt better, he didn't know

He was just thankfull that this gas station had plastic bags to carry everything in, given that they didn't always

He was far less upbeat heading back out to the car now, his heart heavy and hurting as he put the bags in the backseat and slipped into the passenger's side of the front

Derek, who was already waiting on him, seemed to notice right away that something was wrong, frowning and narrowing his eyes with concern

"Stiles? Everything ok?"

Stiles blinked, swallowing and nodding slowly as he buckled his seatbelt

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, don't worry,"

Derek clearly didn't believe that for a single second

"Stiles-"

"I'm fine Derek, really, I just... I don't know,"

And that wasn't entirely a lie, he DIDN'T know

He didn't know how he was supposed to escape Derek's concerned scrutiny without letting slip the secret he'd been holding to himself for atleast the last three years

Derek though, atleast, seemed to have some idea of what to do, wordlessly reaching into the back and digging around in one of the bags Stiles had just put there before pulling out a chocolate bar

"Eat this, you'll feel better, did you take your meds this morning?"

Right, because _that_ was a thing now

Derek knowing things- being concerned with things- about his anxiety like it was Derek's problem, like it was his place to be concerned

Apparently anxiety was one of those nasty side-effects of being a raven, something to do with his heightened mental activity, because ravens drew so much of their power from their minds- their intuition, their magic, their willpower- their minds had a way of lashing out at them in return

Atleast that's the way Stiles always described it

He had started trying out natural remedies for his anxiety a wile ago, since actual drugs could cause his powers to go haywire, and eventually ended up on what he was taking at the moment, a combination of adaptogens and cortisol reducers

They worked- hell they worked _incredibly well_ , but in the vast ocean of mental hell Stiles swam through every day the meds only managed to reduce it to maybe the size of a lake

(A large lake, but still just a lake)

"I took them," he replied quietly, taking the chocolate bar and starting to tear at the wrapper (because chocolate is a legit aid for anxiety, who knew?)

Derek seemed entirely unconvinced that Stiles was in any way "fine" but he didn't bring it up again, not for a wile anyway

Stiles tried his best to appear ... normal, upbeat like he had earlier, but he never had been a good actor and Derek was better at reading people than he'd like to admit

After a few hours, once it had started getting a bit darker outside, sun starting to set behind the hills, Derek pulled into a parkinglot and turned the engine off

"Hey... where are we?" Stiles asked in confusion

He may not have been paying much attention to things, but he recognized that they weren't at a motel or a diner or anything....

"You'll see," he replied vaguely

Wich... really wasn't much of an answer at all, but Stiles trusted Derek- he trusted Derek more than anyone or anything and if Derek wanted them to be here... then who was he to question it?

He pushed the car door open, body stiff with uncertainty and anxiety as he waited for Derek to get out of the car as well

They were parked in front of a large gated area but the inside of the gate was covered with some kind of tarp so Stiles couldn't see inside...

But he could hear

He was surrounded by the sounds of laughing and happy screaming and music..... carnival music....

The air had the distinct scent of typical carnival food too- that overburned, slightly sickening, sweet-and-salty smell that wasn't exactly GOOD but it promised a good time anyway

"Derek are we at a carnival?" he asked suddenly, ignoring the way his heart jumped when Derek grabbed his hand and started dragging him off towards the entrance of the carnival

"You'll see," he repeated, clearly not in any mood to be giving out his plan

"Do we really have time to be taking breaks like this?"

"It's just a few hours Stiles, besides, the full moon was four days ago, there's probably not going to be another major incident anytime soon,"

He guessed that was right but...

It just seemed a little odd...

He didn't really have the time to express that though, since Derek was pulling him into the carnival, paying at the door for tickets and then ushering him towards the mess of people in the midst of the fair

"What do you want to do first? Games? Food?"

Stiles didn't know what to do with that question, was there even a correct response?

So he looked around for a second, lips turning upwards by just a little bit as he spotted one of the game stands

"I've always wanted to win at that basketball game,"

 

~+~

 

Fifteen dollars and a bruised head later, Stiles gave up on trying to win at the basketball game

(Derek won in one go and gave Stiles the stuffed prize- Stiles insisted it was werewolf strength, Derek swore it was years of highschool basketball and promised Stiles would easily kick his butt at a lacrosse game)

"Ok, balloon darts, I am a MASTER at balloon darts!"

"Sounds like a plan," Derek agreed with a quick nod, nudging Stiles towards the balloon dart stand ahead of them

And much to Derek's surprise, he actually WAS pretty good at balloon darts, he managed to win two medium stuffed animals, wich was a pretty fair feat

"Ok, next, lucky ducks, maybe after that we'll get food,"

Derek was happy to go along with whatever Stiles wanted- after all, this entire venture was only happening because he wanted to make his freind happy again, but he couldn't help being a little confused by Stiles' game choice

 _"Lucky ducks?"_ he scoffed

The game was pretty childish, just picking a rubber duck out of a pool and whatever letter was written on the bottom dictated what prize you'd get

Worse though was that the prizes utterly _sucked_ , in a way that was worse than the typical carnival prizes

Derek couldn't see anything there someone over the age of four would want...

"Nostalgia," Stiles shrugged back as he reached into the pool

Derek supposed he could understand that... but still, five bucks for barely a full minute of nostalgia?

"Aw man, why do I always get 'small prize' on these things?"

"Maybe your ducks aren't lucky," Derek teased

Stiles snorted at the joke, picking a magic princess wand for his prize and pulling Derek along

"Come on, let's go find food and a little kid to give this wand to, maybe my ducks will get luckier,"

 

~+~

 

"I have to say, this is pretty bad,"

Derek glanced down at Stiles' disgusted face- wrinkled nose and scrunched up lips, and then at the hot dog he was holding

He understood easily why Stiles was disgusted

The hot dog looked more like something you would feed a cat than a person....

"You know my mom always said to never go to a carnival with the expectation of dinner, but .. I saw a pretty nice looking Italian place on the way here, we could go have dinner before heading to the hotel if you want,"

"Really?"

It wasn't that going to an actual restaurant instead of a diner or a cafe' or something was unheard of, just... unusual

Usually they looked for things that were quick and easy and to be honest neither of them cared that much about big fancy places so....

"What's with the sudden wine-and-dine?"

"Nothing, just thought it might be nice, I mean we have to eat right?" Derek shrugged back

Stiles was a little suspicious but ultimately let it go, it really wasn't worth it

He was about to ask Derek if he was sure he wanted to go through the trouble when he happened to notice something rather spectacular out of the corner of his eye

"Oh my GOD! Derek LOOK!!!!"

Derek blinked, turning to look where Stiles was pointing and instantly knowing what he was having such an excited fit over

A giant plush wolf was hanging up as the prize at a stand across from them, and Stiles was already half-way there before Derek even had his head turned

"Look! It's a water gun game! Ooh man I love these things, my dad and I used to play them all the time," he beamed

The upside to coming to carnivals at night is that there were far less people than there were during the day- especially kids, wich meant that no one else was currently at the water gun game, ergo, an easy win for Stiles

"Yeah? I'll play against you," he offered with a slight smile, climbing easily onto the stool next to Stiles and slipping five bucks on the counter

The tired looking employee took the cash, giving a glance around to make sure no one else was approaching the game, before ringing the bell for the game to start

Both of them immediately shot a blast of water at the targets, and somewhat to Derek's surprise, Stiles actually was ahead of him from the start

"You aren't letting me win now are ya' Hale?" the raven teased

"Not on your life Stilinski," Derek smirked back

He wasn't letting Stiles win, but he was kind of glad to see how easily Stiles was managing to keep the lead, and in absolutely no time the bell was going off signaling the end of the game, and Stiles was practically screaming with excitement at his victory

"I'll take that big wolf please~!" he beamed, pointing towards the wolf hanging on the back of the wall

The stand attendant reached back and unhooked, boredly handing it off to Stiles as he squeezed the plush toy

"You're going home with quite the haul aren't you?" Derek teased

"Yeah, you're going to have a fun time having these in your apartment huh?"

So that was the other thing that had changed recently, they were roommates

They came to the decision to move in together right after they started working together and it had just... made sense

They spent alot of time on the road and what time they didn't spend out they spent together researching, or even just spending personal time together, given that Derek was the only freind Stiles had left who wasn't out of town for college or something, it had just ... made sense

It wasn't something Derek had thought about much, until now

"Hey... you alright?"

Derek blinked out of his thoughts, a slight blush coming over his face as he turned his attention back to Stiles

"I'm fine, are you ready to go? Or would you prefer to do something else first?"

"No no, we can head out, I'm starting to get tired of lugging around the plush parade anyhow," Stiles shrugged back

It seemed that now the roles were reversed, Derek was the one acting odd and Stiles was the one concerned

He watched Derek for a moment as they walked, licking his lips and taking a breath before deciding to confront the wolf

"Derek... you sure there's nothing wrong?"

Derek apparently wasn't as prepared to keep things internalized as Stiles was- for once

"I just.. I need to ask you something,"

Stiles raised an eyebrow, tilting his head with concern

"Yeah that... that doesn't sound concerning or ominous at all, what's up Big Guy?"

"Do you want to keep doing this?"

And of all the things that Stiles might have expected Derek to say... that definitely was not one of them

"What? What do you-"

"This, the work we're doing, do you want to keep doing it?"

He swallowed anxiously, biting down hard on the inside of his cheek to keep himself from breaking off into an anxiety driven rant but...

"Why would you even ask that? Ofcourse I do!"

"I... earlier, you were so upset coming out of the gas station, I just thought-"

"WOAH, you... Derek, oh my God, you SO had the wrong idea...."

"Then what was the right idea?" Derek asked with a slight frown, eyes narrowed and frustrated

He wished Stiles would just tell him the truth, the longer he avoided telling him the truth, the more concerned and anxious Derek became

Stiles could see that much on his face

Derek wasn't going to let this go anytime soon...

"Alright just... c'mere,"

In a rash decision- wich, really, was how Stiles made most of his decisions- he hurriedly tugged Derek to a secluded spot behind a snack cart, feeling oddly like he was the teen protagonist in some crappy romcom about to confess to his highschool crush

(Ugh, that was the LAST thing he needed to be thinking about...)

"Stiles...?"

"Look if I'm going to tell you this then I just ... I just need to tell you and get it over with like NOW,"

Stiles knew by the concerned, anxious, half-terrified look on Derek's face that that REALLY wasn't the right thing to say but... well, it was all he had

"I want a relationship, ok? I saw this... relationship in there and... and I got jealous, alright? Because I want that, and as if that wasn't... ridiculous enough of me, I want it with someone I can never have it with,"

"Who?"

The question sounded like a breath, like a wisper, like Derek was actually afraid of finding out the answer

And hell, Stiles was afraid of giving it

"Does it matter?"

"Well... yes, I mean... what's to say you can't have this person?"

"Trust me, he wouldn't want me,"

"How do you know?"

"Just believe me,"

"That isn't an answer,"

"'Because it's you you stupid massive idiot!! There! Ok!? Are you satisfied?! I'm in love with you and sometimes I get a little bit bitter over it!"

Derek looked... perplexed, mostly, for a good few minutes, before he leaned in a little closer and gently grabbed the front of Stiles' shirt

"Why didn't you just say so?"

Before Stiles could even reply to that, he found himself gasping into Derek's mouth as the werewolf pressed his lips against the raven's

He was stunned quiet for a moment, stock still and frozen, before slowly wrapping his arms around Derek's neck, closing his eyes, and returning the kiss

It was slow and steady and uncertain, a little shy but mostly... familiar

As if they had been doing this for ages and ages...

And when they finally pulled away it was like a spell had been broken because all of the uncertainty Stiles had been feeling all these years was just suddenly gone...

"I love you," Derek said quietly but firmly, eyes tilting up to look straight into Stiles'

"And if you really are that sure I wouldn't want you, then you must be crazy,"

"Yeah well.... that seems to be the general consensus," Stiles breathed back, flushed and a little shakey but... but good flushed and shakey

Derek let out a slightly breathless laugh, wrapping an arm around Stiles' shoulders and letting his lips curve into a smirk

"So.... dinner, first date?"

"Are you asking me out?" Stiles grinned- because seriously, this was one of his sixteen-year-old fantasies come to life

"I'm asking you out," Derek confirmed

"Then I accept with a resolute hell yes,"

"Good to know," he chuckled, leaning back and taking Stiles' hand

For a few moments they walked in peacefull silence, not awkward or unpleasant, just peacefull... until....

"Hang on a second here Hale, if you love me so much then why haven't YOU ever said anything to ME before?"

Derek blinked, looking down at Stiles innocently

"I didn't think you'd ever want me,"

Stiles' jaw must have come unhinged, they'd have to screw it back on with wires and bolts and stuff because _oh my **GOD**_

"So....... we're just two idiots in love who are too self-deprecating and low on self-esteem to realize it?"

"Seems that way,"

Stiles shrugged slightly, squeezing Derek's hand a little tighter and leaning closer as they walked

"Well, as long as it's mutual,"


End file.
